TooManyFools Timeline
9th-17th July 2005 Saturday 9th July * Ten of Swords, inverted... Sunday 10th July *Temperance *NIN gig Monday 11th July * Ten of Swords Tuesday 12th July * Queen of Cups, inverted Wednesday 13th July * Five of Cups, inverted Thursday 14th July * Emperor, inverted Friday 15th July * Knight of Pentacles, inverted 16th-22nd July 2005 Weekend * Didn't take cards, trying to sort out domestic life. Had a good Saturday, including a walk into some nearby woods, where we found a log carved into the shape of a crouched faun, or perhaps Pan, with the stump of log he was crouched on engraved with the words I'm the laughter in the leaves, I'm the face in the trees, I'm the king in the woods.... Strange, especially since it's about five minutes walk away from the local Catholic High School. Note it says king IN the wood, not king OF the wood. * Looking at this project and I need to A. Spend more time writing it up and B. Need a more rigid plan. Have decided to base my project more around the idea of the Fools Journey through the Major Arcana. Monday 18th July * Page of Pentacles * Idea of running with Fool idea... maybe set up a Tarot Wiki, maybe start a Tarot course, rather than blunder blindly. The Page of Pentacles often represents a student. Still, this is the Fool stage, so maybe I shouldn't study anything... * Read someone's cards at work ('Jim') - who drew (as one of three cards) the Knight of Pentacles, right way up (which I drew last Friday) * Reconsidering the final name of this project: Chasing The Fool Tuesday 19th July * Seven of Pentacles, inverted... * Email local shop Spirit about tarot course - coincidentally just missed one intensive course (owner emails back, nothing at the moment - is this a dead-end? Still, I know where to find a good tarot shop now...) * Seek Tarot/Jung book in shops, don't find the book I'm looking for. Read a description of the Fool in one of the Tarot books as smartly dressed youth carrying his possessions in a bag, a white flower in his hand symbolic of his spiritual yearnings. (also see the Wikipedia page on The Fool too - will hopefully be writing up something much more than that should I get around to a Tarot Wiki of my own). The description sounds a little like me at the moment (metaphorically, not literally). I was reading the book dressed in my suit, and it's no secret I often carry a small bag heavy with 'things' wherever I go (books, CDs and cards usually, my life in miniature). I also look a lot like a cartoon I did a long time ago of a guy called Mal, who was supposed to represent the Fool in a cartoony version of the Tarot, right down to his goatee and spiked hair. Scary... *Ooo! Also found out that according to most other tarot packs the Ten of Swords is a very bad card, normally depicting somebody lying in a bloody puddle impaled by ten swords. And yet it seems weird if all Tens are representative of completed cycles, and the sword represents intellect and thought. Perhaps that's why the Vertigo pack is the one I connect with best. And not only because it keeps giving me good cards... :-p * As I entered the bookshop I remembered this was the shop that had advertised a book coming out by much-loved author Robin Hobb, who wrote a trilogy of books each with the word Fool in it, The Tawny Man trilogy, being composed of Fool's Errand, The Golden Fool and Fool's Fate. The Fool is the only character to appear in all three of these books plus the previous two trilogies by Robin Hobb (The Farseer Trilogy and The Liveship Traders Trilogy). As I walk into the shop my eyes immediately find the new book on the shelves. Considered buying it after a quick read of the cover blurb (interestingly enough with a passage about forest dwelling beastial inhabitants), but today's card suggested hard work without satisfaction and holding back from commitment. Was actually reading that as in I should not work so hard today at stuff, but I actually did chase up a whole bunch of leads today, failed to get what I was looking for, and am not quite satisfied. I can salvage the day with the idea that Robin Hobb's Fool might be a source of inspiration... A Fool's Errand. * Was going to walk to work today, but got a lift in. Instead walked back, on the road less travelled, through the dark woods, past the pagan-looking carving. Sat down in the seat set into it, on which the words about the king are carved, half wondering if anything would happen. Nothing did. Walked away pondering... okay, so he's not king of those woods... but... what exactly IS he king of? Had to leave work via the back entrance, through the corporate sports grounds and mini-wildlife reserve (which I didn't know about), called The Field of Dreams (a name I had heard used before, but originally thought was vaguely sarcastic)... Wednesday 20th July * Two of Cups... (a card about being hopelessly in love - not sure how to interpret as a 'guide') Thursday 21st July * Justice, inverted... (a card about being dishonest, especially with myself - uho!) * Big work 'do' tonight, free food, funfair rides... this is what happens when you work for a big American company... * London bombings (failed) * Inverted justice? Friday 22nd July * Emperor, inverted (again) 23rd onwards... Sorry, not much written... been occupied with Citizens Required and being the The King's Fool...